White House Confirms Trump Will ‘Address Marijuana Rescheduling’

A White House spokesperson has confirmed to Marijuana Moment that President
Donald Trump is “currently expected to address marijuana rescheduling” on
Thursday, though they added that “any details of this potential action
until officially announced by the White House are speculation.”

This comes amid a rapidly churning rumor mill about the president’s
potential plans to issue an executive order directing the attorney general
to proceed with a proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III
of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Sources familiar with the administration’s planning tell Marijuana Moment
that an announcement on the rescheduling move is planned for 1:30pm ET and
that Trump will be surrounded by various cannabis industry and movement
stakeholders when signing the order.

As recently reported, the president’s executive order may also address
ancillary issues related to CBD coverage through federal Medicare and a
call for congressional action on cannabis banking.

There are also rumors that a rescheduling decision will be coupled with
presidential clemency, though the scope of that potential relief is
unclear. That said, the White House spokesperson made clear that the deluge
of details about the administration’s plans are speculative for now.

But according to NBC News, the executive order may contain an explicit push
from the president urging Congress to pass a bipartisan bill titled the
Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, which would
prevent federal regulators for penalizing financial institutions simply for
working with state-licensed marijuana businesses.

The lack of banking access for the cannabis industry was also raised in a
Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday.

It’s also being speculated that the plan is to take a novel—albeit
logistically complicated—approach to cannabidiol, a non-intoxicating
component of the cannabis plant that’s widely used as a health supplement.
Sources have said that drafts of the executive order have called on the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to amend its rules to let
people on Medicare receive reimbursements for the cannabinoid product.

That potential reform was also floated in a video from The Commonwealth
Project touting the health benefits of CBD that Trump shared on Truth
Social in late September.

CMS implemented a rule in April specifically stipulating that marijuana, as
well as CBD that can be derived from federally legal hemp, are ineligible for
coverage under its Medicare Advantage program and other services. But the
agency has since revised the proposed rule, just weeks before the expected
administrative order by Trump.

On Monday, Trump said he is “very strongly” considering rescheduling
cannabis in part to ease restrictions on research into its effects.

Opponents of the policy change have stepped up their efforts to dissuade
the administration from moving forward, arguing that a reclassification to
Schedule III will further normalize marijuana use even though it would not
federally legalize the plant. Rescheduling would, however, let marijuana
businesses take federal tax deductions while reducing certain research
barriers associated with Schedule I drugs.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), one of the more vocal prohibitionists in Congress,
said this week that Trump doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally
reschedule marijuana via executive order. But while lawmakers could
overrule any administrative move to enact the reform, it would be a “heavy
lift” in the Republican-controlled Congress, he acknowledged.

Meanwhile, multiple top congressional Democrats are making the case that
the modest reform would not go far enough—including Sen. Ron Wyden (R-OR)
who said the move is only an attempt by the president to “gaslight” voters
into thinking he legalized cannabis to boost his “pathetic” approval
ratings.

A major drug testing industry organization separately said it’s “sounding
the alarm” amid the reports Trump may soon finalize the rescheduling
proposal, arguing that the policy change would “have catastrophic
consequences for the safety of the United States workforce and
transportation sectors.”


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Bipartisan congressional lawmakers have been weighing in on the potential
rescheduling decision over the past week—with Democrats like Rep. Alex
Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) calling the reform a “no-brainer” and others like Rep.
Andy Harris (R-MD) pushing back against the proposal.

The Washington Post reported last week that Trump was planning to issue an
executive order directing federal agencies to move ahead with cannabis
rescheduling.

The outlet also said the president met earlier this week in the Oval Office
with marijuana industry executives, Health and Human Services Secretary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Administrator Mehmet Oz. During that meeting, Trump phoned Johnson, the
House speaker, who expressed his opposition to rescheduling cannabis,

If the administration does ultimately enact rescheduling, it would mark one
of the most significant developments in federal marijuana policy since its
prohibition a half a century ago, with a Schedule III reclassification
recognizing that marijuana has medical value and a lower abuse potential
compared to other Schedule I drugs like heroin.

The post White House Confirms Trump Will ‘Address Marijuana Rescheduling’
Thursday, But Reported Details On Final Decision Are ‘Speculation’ appeared
first on Marijuana Moment.